<HTML><BODY DEFANGED_STYLE="word-wrap: break-word; -khtml-nbsp-mode: space; -khtml-line-break: after-white-space; ">Hi everyone,<DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>I've just stumbled into the topic of using databases linked with GRASS. I'd like to start using mySQL to store and manage spatial data, but in spite of all the reading I've done (Tutorials, GRASS Wiki, etc), it is still unclear to me what exactly can and can not be stored in databases, and how. For those of you with experience, can you point me in the right direction? I have lots of experience with mySQL, so I'm comfortable with that topic. Here are my basic questions:</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>1) Does having data in a database mean that it does not need to also be stored in GRASS files?</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>2) Can any GRASS vector data be stored in a database, or is it just points?</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>3) How is GRASS vector data put into a database? For example, I download a vector file for county boundaries from a state agency (polygons). I can easily import this into GRASS. Now what? Many of the tutorials focus on querying the database, but how to I load the data into the db table in the first place?</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>Thanks in advance for any assistance.</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>- Jason</DIV><BR><BR><DIV> <P DEFANGED_STYLE="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" DEFANGED_STYLE="font: 12.0px Helvetica">Jason Horn</FONT></P> <P DEFANGED_STYLE="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" DEFANGED_STYLE="font: 12.0px Helvetica">Boston University Department of Biology</FONT></P> <P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" DEFANGED_STYLE="font: 12.0px Helvetica">5 Cumington Street<SPAN class="Apple-converted-space"> </SPAN>Boston, MA 02215</FONT></P> <P DEFANGED_STYLE="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><BR></P> <P DEFANGED_STYLE="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" DEFANGED_STYLE="font: 12.0px Helvetica"><A href="mailto:jhorn@bu.edu">jhorn@bu.edu</A></FONT></P> <P DEFANGED_STYLE="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">office: 617 353 6987</FONT></P> <P DEFANGED_STYLE="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">cell: 401 588 2766</FONT></P> <BR class="Apple-interchange-newline"> </DIV><BR></BODY></HTML>